1983, my Papa wrote these postcards from the United Arab Emirates to his mother back in Vienna. My grandmother kept these memories from hot and humid weather and the customs of Ramadan till her death and then they came back to us. Now I am keeping these cards of the Emirates of Yesteryears and it´s funny to read that Papa wrote that I spent my days in the hotel´s pool all days long and I played with empty beer´s cans like all childrens of this bygone era.
In almost all seven Shaikhdoms, my Papa managed the building of the necessary power plants for electricity - for eight years.
My months in the Shaikhdom of Dubai were the best of my childhood. It was a different world and I liked it. The vast desert on the road from Dubai to Fujarah was totally different from the Austrian Alps and the green forests.
And the camels! I loved them.
Dubai was a great place for a little child who was always curious about clothes usually worn in the Gulf region and about the food there.
It was the time of His Highness Shaikh Rashid bin Sa´id al Maktoum.

My Mama and me went to Deira sometimes for sightseeing. It was super hot and super humid in July 1983 and I always was thirsty - look at the photo where I had my hand on my throat. Today I would take a plastic bottle with water!

One day we visited Jebel Ali Power Station which was still under construction. I was amazed by all of these machines and these important-looking faces of the (Indian) worker.

Today Jebel Ali became an area with a lot of power plants - nothing reminds me of my childhood in the UAE.